If someone told you a high-powered water jet could cut granite, steel and even titanium the chances are you’d think they’d lost their marbles - but a growing Warwickshire business has invested £200,000 in a machine that can do just that.

The Australian-made Techni Waterjet PAC 60 machine is the first of its kind in the country and has been bought by Planet Granite as part of an ambitious growth plan.

The Arley-based business is set to double its workforce and owner and founder Steve Murphy is in the midst of a £1million investment programme.

Steve, who founded the firm 14 years ago as a one-man band with an angle grinder, now wants to recruit ten new staff and also plans to branch out into contract cutting work in the engineering sector thanks to his new machine.

The five-axis water jet represents a huge investment but really is at the cutting edge of the stone business.

The end product

It can cut through granite like paper and is the only water jet cutting machine in the UK that can cut at angles.

It means it offers a level of intricacy and precision that Steve hopes will revolutionise his business.

To prove the point he showed us a giant plywood model dinosaur made earlier that morning by up-scaling a build-your-own dinosaur template.

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He then showed off the machine’s abilities by cutting a Batman logo in granite in a matter of minutes.

He said: “I’ve gone all out and bought it. No one in the stone industry in the UK has got one - it’s the only one of its type.

“There are a few water jet cutting machines in the country but they can only cut downwards - this one can cut in any direction.

“It can cut pretty much any material and has been proven to cut steel up to 200mm thick.”

Owner Steve Murphy

The high-tech machine also operates almost silently and uses a fraction of the energy of conventional saw-based cutting machines.

For Steve it’s a case of catching-up with developments in the stone business in other parts of the world.

“In Australia and in the US most stone companies have a water jet but not here,” he said.

Planet Granite’s core business is granite work surfaces for kitchens but the company does much more besides - it recently made the Jimmy Hill memorial erected in Coventry .

Now Steve hopes the new machine’s capabilities can see him take on specialised cutting work for engineering companies.

Karen and Steve Murphy in the showroom

As part of the company’s growth Steve has recently moved factory operations from workshops at Devitts Green Farm in Arley to the former J Bayliss & Son caravan repair centre nearby.

Steve’s investment has seen the old caravan repair building virtually rebuilt and kitted out as a purpose-built factory to help achieve his ambitious growth plans.

That involves doubling the workforce from 10 to 20 over the months ahead and getting more people through the doors of a large showroom created in a former barn at Devitts Green Farm, where Steve also lives.